Evangelion: The Parent's Sins
by John Allen Smith
Summary: In the year 2000, Second Impact devastated the world. Now, 18 years later, Dr. Shinji Ikari, boy genius, must pilot Evangelion Unit-01, defeat the Angels, and save the world, all while unknowingly facing off against a secret counsel that essentially rules the world. Unfortunately for him, his enemies aren't always WHO he thinks they are.
1. Angel Attack!

**Chapter One:**

Angel Attack!

"_We're sorry, but due to emergency situations, no phone lines are available at this time. Thank you, please try again later._"

"What? They called me here, during an emergency?" the young man looks down at his watch. It read 3:12 PM. He sighed. The woman his parents had sent to pick him up was around two hours late. He lowers his hand, reaching into his sweater pocket, and pulls out a picture of her. In the photo, she had purple hair, pulled back into a ponytail, as she sat on the hood of her car in shorts and a t-shirt. He sighs, scratching his head. Hopefully this 'Misato Katsuragi' would be here soon. It made him uncomfortable to be outside in an emergency. Especially if said emergency was in the area that he was standing in.

Seventeen year old Shinji Ikari, 'the child genius of Kyoto University', waiting for some lady sent by his parents to pick him up, turned around, after hearing some noise. There, he sees something odd, a blue haired girl about 170 centimeters tall, who appears to be around seventeen years of age, standing in the middle of the deserted city. Shinji's eyes go wide. What was she doing here?

"Rei?" Shinji asks towards the girl, curiously, wondering why he saw his twin sister standing in there. As he steps forwards, a flock of birds flies overhead, quickly diverting his attention away from his sister, only for her to disappear when he looks back.

Shinji steps back, shocked at the figure he saw, only to notice that the ground was trembling beneath him. Suddenly, a large green foot dripping with water walks over the village, as VTOL gunships fly in. It lumbers slowly across the valley, holding near where Shinji is. Slowly, it raises it's arm and fires a rod of pink light, penetrating one of the VTOLs and sending it crashing to the ground. It crashed not even 15 meters away from Shinji, and all he does it stare at it as the Angel leaps over several buildings to to land on the downed VTOL. Just as the explosion from the gunship being destroyed reaches around 10 feet from Shinji, a blue Alpine screams to a halt right before him.

The door opens, and the woman in the picture is there.

"You Shinji Ikari?"

Shinji just nods.

"Get in! Quickly!"

He grabs his bag and scrambles to get inside the car, throwing his duffel bag into the back, and clicking on the seat belt.

When he finishes that, Misato smiles, and says to him, "Hold on tight! It'll be a little bumpy!"

She presses down on the gas, and zips straight ahead, far from the angel.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep inside the Geofront, in the Operations Center, three of the JSSDFs generals were screaming in confusion about their weapons ineffectiveness.

"Is it protected by an AT Field?" asks Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, to his old pupils.

"Yes, it must be Fuyutsuki-Sensei. Gendo, prep Rei incase the spare cannot be counted on," says one of his pupils, a certain Dr. Yui Ikari, wearing a lab coat, a simple pink blouse, black slacks, and her hair in her own typical (surprisingly long) bob cut.

Commander Gendo Ikari stares at his wife, concerned.

"You don't mean _that_ plan do you? Also you could at least refer to Shinji by his name, rather than "the spare"."

"Yes, that plan. Do what you must. Also, he is a spare pilot. So why not refer to him as such?"

Gendo looks at her. He sighs, and turns to walk towards an elevator, holding his right hand in his pants pocket. He turns, and as the elevator descends, says "Fuyutsuki, take over the rest. Also Yui, prep Unit-01 for launch when you get the all-clear. I will be in the medical wing."

The elevator descends, leaving Fuyutsuki and Yui on that platform. She smiles to herself, a small, evil grin.

One of the generals, holding a red phone to his ear, says "Yes sir, I understand. We'll execute the plan at once," he turns towards Yui and Fuyutsuki, "Sub-Commander, Dr. Ikari, we have received permission from the Prime Minister for an N2 strike. However, there is a civilian vehicle registered to your Operations Director in the area. Should we commence?"

Yui looks at the screen, zoomed into Misato's car. "It's no problem. Launch the N2 strike."

Makoto leans over to Aoba and whispers to him, "I know it's non-nuclear, but nuke the fucker!"

Aoba just snickers, and nods, replying with "What the fuuuuu-boom!"

Maya just rolls her eyes, and says "You'd better not be making nuking jokes again."

* * *

Back at Misato's Alpine, Misato is currently hunched over looking out the window with her binoculars.

"Hold on...wait! They're going to use an N2-mine! Get down!"

She roughly pushes Shinji into the car seat, as the mine gets set off, sending the car, and therefore them, spinning over dunes of sand. As the dust settled, two figures remained in the newly created wasteland.

"You OK?"

"Yeah…just got sand in my mouth. Thankfully that was non-nuclear."

"Great. Let's go! Push!"

They stood with their backs to the car, pushing with all their might. After a couple of tries, the car shifts and lands right side up.

"Ah! Thanks for the hand! You were great!" Misato says to Shinji as she dusts her hands off, then places them on her waist.

"Th-thank you too Miss. Katsuragi. I'll pay for the damages."

"Ah! It's OK! I'll pay for them myself, and calling me Misato is fine. Well, it's nice that we've officially met, Shinji Ikari."

* * *

Back in the command center, things were starting to get hectic.

"We've got an energy reading at the explosion's epicenter!"

"It can't be!"

"Visual display restored."

The three generals stare at the form of the angel on the screen.

"That was our last resort…"

"No effect...I can't believe it."

"It's a God-damned demon!"

"Just as we predicted, it's regenerating itself."

"If it couldn't, it wouldn't be a practical autonomous invasion weapon. Truly, I am curious as to how the S2 Organ works as to speed up cellular regeneration," says Yui with a smirk.

Gendo steps back onto the platform, adjusting his glasses. He watches as Sachiel fires a beam into a recon-gunship, destroying it instantly.

"Impressive. It appears that it can even upgrade it's own operational functions."

Gendo sits in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of his facing and taking the classic 'Gendo pose.'

"It is also learning...interesting," Yui continues smirking, her legs crossed as she sits on a table.

"It will continues it's assault any minute now," says Fuyutsuki, hands clasped behind his back.

The video snaps on, rerouted through another camera.

* * *

The gates for the express elevator to the Geofront close behind Shinji and Misato.

"The special agency, Nerv? Wasn't it a research company six years ago?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah it was. But now, it's a secret organisation under the control of the United Nations."

Shinji looks out his window. "My parents work here, right?"

"Yeah. Do you know what they do?"

He continues to stare out the window. "Not really...no. My aunt and uncle said that it's for the survival of all humans."

"Well, they're not wrong there."

* * *

The general places the phone back down and sighs.

"From now on, command of this operation is entrusted to you. Do not fail."

Gendo nods. "Yes sir."

"Mr. Ikari, we must admit that our weapons have no effect on the target. Are you sure that you can beat these...things?"

Gendo takes off his glasses, cleans them, then places them back on.

"Sir, that is what Nerv was created for."

"We're all praying that you are correct."

The platform the generals are on descends downwards, as Yui stands up.

"Target is still stationary. Our ability to intercept is only 7.5%," one of the bridge techs says over the intercom.

"Even the U.N. forces are exhausted. What do you plan on doing?" Fuyutsuki asks.

"I intend to activate Unit-01 Fuyutsuki-sensei. Gendo, start the preparations for launch," Yui says, as she stretches her arms.

"Unit-01? But we don't have a pilot."

"My son will pilot it." Gendo sits down, and opens a folder, passing it to Fuyutsuki.

He reads it, with an eyebrow raised, and smiles, placing it down. A piece of paper lies out of it, with the name "(Dr.) Shinji Ikari" written across the top.

* * *

"Are...you taking me to see my parents?"

"Yes. I believe so."

He closes his eyes, thinking back to when he was three. His father, gently smiling, patting his head as his mother looks down in anger. Him, crying at the train station. _"Mother…"_

"Ah, I almost forgot. Did they send you an ID card?" Misato asks. Her arms were placed behind her head, as she looked at him.

Shinji blinks, then reaches into his bag, "Yes," he searches for a moment, then pulls out a crumpled piece of paper, "Here it is."

Misato takes it from him and unfolds it. It was simply a largely blacked out information sheet, with a temporary ID and the words "Come. -Yui Ikari," written across.

"Here. Read this." Misato passes him an introduction package.

Shinji holds it up, staring at it. "Nerv...my parent's agency...am I going to work for them too?" Shinji turns towards Misato as she just stares out of the window, "Of course. They wouldn't have sent a letter for me unless they needed something."

"I see. So you don't get along with your parents. It's similar with me."

Shinji looks over at Misato in shock. Her hands were still rested behind her head as the elevator descended downward. Soon, it opened up to reveal the GeoFront. Shinji's eyes open in shock, a smile tugging at the side of his lips.

"Amazing...it's a GeoFront! A real GeoFront!" he says.

"Yep! This is our secret base. Nerv Headquarters. This is the key to rebuilding our world. A fortress for all mankind."

* * *

The elevator doors open. A relatively tall woman, with her hair dyed blonde, wearing a lab coat and a simple uniform steps in. She looks between Misato and Shinji, then sighs.

"So, this is the boy?"

"Yeah. According to the Marduk Report, this is the Third Child. Ritsuko, this is Shinji Ikari, Shinji, this is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, one of the heads of the Technical Division and a good friend of mine."

"N-nice to meet you, Dr. Akagi. I've read all of your work." Shinji says as he quickly bows.

"Ah yes...I forgot that your father mentioned that you have a degree. Well, I remember that your thesis was very interesting, Dr. Ikari."

Shinji steps back, a slight smile on his face. "Th-thank you!"

The elevator reaches it's destined floor. Once the doors open, Ritsuko steps out, saying "This way. An be quick."

* * *

The lights in the hanger clicked off as the door shut.

"Huh? It's completely dark." Shinji says, just as Ritsuko presses the light switch.

The sound of over 100 light bulbs turning on simultaneously rings out. As it does, Shinji steps back in shock, his eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"A...a face? It's a giant...wait...oh god…" he says in shock.

The manual drops to the floor, as Shinji continues to stare up at the robot.

"Well, at least he didn't look in the manual for it. This is mankind's ultimate decisive multi-purpose weapon, the synthetic human, Evangelion Unit-01," Ritsuko says to Shinji as he continues to stare at the giant purple figure. "Built in absolute secrecy, it is mankind's trump card."

Shinji just continues to stare up, at the giant purple armored face. "Is-is this part of what my parents do?" he asked tentatively.

"That's right," a voice sounded out from above. "It's been a while," Yui says, staring down at him menacingly.

Shinji looks at Yui, shaking. "Mother…"

Shinji looks away, towards the floor, not wanting to see Yui. Yui, however smirks, as if she had just been guaranteed to win something amazing.

"Dr. Akagi! Prepare Unit-01 for launch! We're moving out to face the Third Angel!" Yui says.

"Unit-01? You can't be serious!" Misato yells.

"There's no other way," Ritsuko replies with, calmly. "Unit-00 is still in cryo-stasis."

"Hold on! Rei can't pilot yet, can she? We've got no pilot!"

Yui laughs from above. "Major, you just hand delivered our pilot."

Misato's face goes completely serious. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Shinji Ikari," Ritsuko says, looking over at Shinji.

"Y-yes?"

"You will pilot Unit-01."

"But even Rei Ikari took seven months to synchronise with her Eva! It's impossible for him to do it! Those two are siblings, and by that seven month standard, he wouldn't be able to do it!" Misato argues.

"He just needs to get into the entry plug. We expect nothing more than that," Ritsuko continues with.

"But…"

"Killing the Angel is our top priority. To do that, we have no choice but to put aboard the Eva whomever has the chance to synchronise with it, no matter how slight. I believe you know that, Major Katsuragi."

"I suppose..." Misato says.

"Mother, why did you send for me?" Shinji asks, with his head still dipped over, facing the floor.

Yui snorts. "You know exactly why. Dr. Akagi just said why."

"So...you're asking me...to pilot this thing, based off of theories, and fight the other thing?" Shinji says.

"Correct."

"No way! Why are you doing this now?! I thought you didn't need me!" Shinji yells up.

"I called you because I have a use for you. Nothing more, nothing less," Yui says, disgust and anger hinting her voice.

Shinji looks back at the floor. "Why me? Why not your ever precious Rei?" he mumbles.

"Because no one else can."

"No...I can't...I've never seen this thing before! I can't do this!" Shinji yells.

"You will be instructed. Also, you seem to know about the theories this was based off of, so that should show you have some knowledge of this," Yui replies.

"But there's no way I can do this! I can't pilot it!"

"Fine then. Either pilot it, and quickly, or leave my sight!" Yui yells down at him.

Misato, Ritsuko, and the entire maintenance crew just stared at the scene, not wanting to interfere and possibly provoke the wrath of Yui Ikari.

On the surface, Sachiel, the Third Angel, stops on a hill overlooking the location of the city. It fires an energy blast, causing an explosion and subsequent shaking to happen in the Geofront.

"It was only a matter of time before it found us," Yui says while looking at the ceiling.

Sachiel fires another blast into the city, causing the Geofront to shake even more.

"Shinji. We don't have time," Ritsuko says.

Shinji turns towards Misato, just to hear her say "Get into it," with a stern expression on her face.

Shinji looks back at the ground again. "N-no...I didn't come for this! This isn't fair!"

Misato leans down a little, to look up at Shinji's face. "Shinji, just _why _did you come here? "

Shinji looks at her quickly, then back towards the Eva.

"You mustn't run! Not from your mother, and most of all, not from yourself!" Misato continues.

"I know that! But there's no way I can do it!" Shinji replies with.

Misato stands back up.

Yui sighs, then turns towards the monitor beside her. "Gendo. Send in Rei."

"Yui, please, don't use her."

"She will be fine. Send her in."

"I don't like this, but I'll trust you. She's on her way."

The monitor clicks off, and another one clicks on. "Rei," Yui says, "You will pilot again. Your brother is useless."

"Yes mom."

Ritsuko looks over towards some of the maintenance crew. "Reconfigure Unit-01's systems to Rei, then reactivate!" she says.

"Roger. Call off present work, and begin reactivation," someone says over the intercom.

Ritsuko turns, and walks away, presumably to start the reconfiguration, while Misato turns towards the path to the command center.

Shinji looks down, his hand loose, the Nerv Manual lying on the floor.

"I knew it. I'm not needed after all," he thinks.

A door or the other end of the holding bay opens up, to reveal a medical team carrying in a girl on a stretcher. She was covered in bandages, an IV drip hooked up to her arm. They wheel her up to in front of the Evangelion, where she struggles to sit up.

On the surface, Sachiel fires another round, causing buildings to crash from above into the Geofront. The buildings crash down, sending Shinji and Rei to the ground, as well as making everyone else lose their footing. A light fixture unhooks from the ceiling, falling straight towards Shinji. He screams, raising his right arm above his head, as Misato screams to look up. Suddenly, rising up from the LCL tank, is Evangelion Unit-01's right arm, blocking the debris from the ceiling from hitting Shinji and Rei.

"The Eva moved!"

"What's going on here!"

"It broke the right arm restraint!"

Voices, sounds of people analysing what happened ring out over the speakers.

"No..that's impossible!" Ritsuko says, still crouched on the floor, "It didn't even have an entry plug inserted! There's no way it could have moved!"

Misato stands up, looking around "It looked around without any interface? Or was it protecting…them?"

She looks over at Shinji, cradling Rei's body, murmuring something to her.

"We can do this," Misato says.

"Rei...it's ok...you'll be fine…" Shinji says. He looks around the room. The Eva's arm was still up, and it just sat still dead, until it's eyes started glowing out of no-where, a faint yellow colour. He looks down at the blood on his hand, his sister's blood, and closes his eyes.

"I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away!"

Shinji looks up, scared, as Rei continues to flinch in pain. "I-I'll do it. I'll pilot it!" he says.

* * *

"First stage connection, started."

The interior of the entry plug starts flashing a variety of colored lights, before settling with no color filter.

"Filling entry plug."

As, the LCL entered the plug, Shinji looked down in panic.

"What is this?" he says, feeling the liquid rise.

"Don't worry. Once your lungs are filled with LCL, your blood will be be oxygenated directly," Ritsuko says over the radio, "You'll get used to it."

Shinji forces himself to breathe out, allowing the orange liquid to enter his lungs.

"Connecting main power!"

"All circuits transmitting power."

"Roger. Commencing secondary contacts."

The coloring in the entry plug changes again, removing the orange tint of the LCL, only for it to change into a rainbow on the screens of the plug.

"A-10 nerve connection, normal. Initiating synchronisation. Set the thought configuration to Japanese."

The screen fades out of the rainbow, becoming a solid screen shown through the Eva's eyes.

"All preliminary contacts established. Performance nominal. Bidirectional circuits are open."

"Synchronisation rate at… 54%," Maya says, reading out the synchronisation rate to everyone.

"Amazing," Ritsuko says to no-one in particular.

"Harmonics are all normal. No disturbances identified," Maya continues.

"We can do it," Ritsuko says, turning to Misato.

Misato nods, and says "Prepare to launch!"

Bridge techs continue with the checklist, as the cage gates open up.

"Prepare to launch!"

"Disengage primary lock bolts!"

"Disengage confirmed. Disengaging the umbilical bridge."

"Disengage secondary lock bolts."

"Disengage primary restraints. Likewise, disengage secondary restraints."

"Release safety locks numbers one through fifteen!"

"Release confirmed. Currently, Unit-01's condition is free."

"Internal batteries fully charged. External battery outlet, normal."

"Roger. Move Evangelion Unit-01 to the launch pad," Maya says over the intercom.

Unit-01 starts to slide backwards up to the launch platform, until it locks in with a loud click. The blast doors above the launch pad open up, then send a signal to the bridge crew showing that Unit-01 was ready for launch.

"Launch pad is clear! All is green!" Maya reports.

"Eva Unit-01 is ready for Launch Major," Ritsuko adds.

"Roger," Misato says. She turns around, to face Gendo, Yui, and Fuyutsuki. "Can we really do this?" Misato asks them.

"Of course we can. Unless we defeat the Angels, we have no future," Yui says, replying to the Major.

Gendo just stares out. "You are cleared to launch Major Katsuragi," he says, a sad tone in his voice.

"Yui, you're really sure about this?" Fuyutsuki asks rhetorically.

"Launch Unit-01!" Misato yells, and as she does so, the list activates beneath Shinji and Unit-01, rocketing them to the surface.

Sachiel lumbers onto the street, as the final blast doors on the launch platform open, allowing Unit-01 to come face to face with the Angel, less than 100 meters away from each other, in a fight to the death. Two 80 meter tall behemoths, ready to kill one another.

Misato picks up the microphone for the communications system, and says "Shinji. Don't get killed out there."


	2. Unfamiliar Ceiling

**Chapter Two:**

An Unfamiliar Ceiling

He just lay there, in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, wearing a long sleeved shirt. He looked around. He was wearing shorts, and a pair of pants were draped over the side of a chair.

Shinji just closes his eyes, and sighs.

"An unfamiliar ceiling…"

* * *

"What's going on with the Eva's defense system?!"

"The signal's not working!"

He doesn't hear much after that. The pain just keeps building, and building, and building, until a loud snap occurs.

"The left arm has been damaged!"

"Circuits disconnected!"

The Eva gets raised up, as Sachiel holds Unit-01 by the face, as the Angel's energy lance starts to charge.

"Shinji, dodge it!"

He faintly registers the command, and tries to pull himself away.

The lance fires. Two, three, four times? He lost count. All that occurred was the pounding of the lance off of the Eva's armor, and as it cracked the casing.

"There's a crack on the front of the cranium!" someone yells, as he just holds his eye.

"OHGODWHYWON'TTHEPAINSTOPWHATISTHIS" he thinks, shrinking down in pain.

"The armor won't last much longer!" Ritsuko yells, in panic.

The lance struck the Eva a few more times, finally piercing the armor, and impaling the head of Unit-01 on a building. Blood gushed out of the Eva, as Shinji slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

The cicadas chirped outside, as Shinji continued to stare up at the ceiling. He sighed again, and stood up, to change our of his clothes. He grabs a simple pair of jeans, and a white long sleeved shirt with red sleeves. He sighs again, as he grabs his backpack, and digs around for his S-DAT.

* * *

Gendo and Yui sat at one portion of of the holographic room, facing the council of Seele.

"So, the Angels have returned, eh? It's so sudden," one of the council members, Orange, the representative from the United States, says.

"It's the same as it was fifteen years ago," Yellow, who's from Sweden comments, "Plus, we had Tabris delay them until this date. That gave us more time to manipulate the Third, and confirm the Fourth's willingness to obey us."

"We could say it was fortunate, in the sense that our prior investments were not a waste," says Orange.

"You can't be sure about that yet," Blue, the representative of France says. "If it doesn't pay off, it's a waste all the same," he continues.

"Precisely. Now that the Angels, and the fact that we have been manipulating information, has become public knowledge, Nerv must operate in a speedy and prudent manner," Yellow says.

"Well, it's not like we've been manipulating too much information. All the public knows is that Second Impact is Adam's fault, and nothing else. They still think that he launched a meteor from outside the solar system at us," Yui says, smirking.

Gendo looks over the council of Seele, and says "You may rest assured that anything the public may find out that contradicts anything we have revealed at first, it will be taken care of."

* * *

"So it's public scenario B-22. So we're hushing up the truth again?" Misato says, while fanning herself off.

Ritsuko laughs while typing something on a computer. "Well at least the PR people are thrilled now that they've finally got something to do."

"We're being pretty casual about it. I mean, all we're doing is forcing children to pilot giant robots."

"I'm not sure about that first part. I think that everyone's actually scared," Ritsuko says.

Misato stops using the hand fan, and looks down a little. "Of course we are."

* * *

"Well, we must acknowledge that. Speaking of which, Ikari, isn't there a better way to utilize Nerv and the Eva's?" Green, the representative of the United Kingdom asks.

"First the repairs to Unit-00 three years ago, then to Unit-08 during the excavation of the Nineteenth Angel. And two days ago, there were more damages to Unit-00, and now to Unit-01, which was damaged against the Third Angel. It's enough to bankrupt an entire country," Yellow questions.

"We also understand that you gave that toy to your son," Orange brings up.

"Manpower, time and money. How much more do you and your family plan on wasting?" Blue asks.

"And that's not your only responsibility. What about the Human Instrumentality Project? That, is your top priority," Orange lectures.

"Exactly. Under these dire circumstances, the project is our one and only hope," Yellow says.

The light surrounding the man at the end of the table turns on, glowing red. Lorenz Kiel, the chairman from Germany, and leader of Seele appears. "In any case, we cannot excuse any delays in the project's schedule. You have to kill twenty-four angels now, due to us having Tabris delay them for three years. That has delayed us long enough. You will consider the issue regarding the budget."

"Mrs. Ikari, if you may leave, we require your husband's advice on somethings. We thank you for your presence."

Yui leaves the room, and the rest of the council gets moved to a separate channel, so Kiel and Gendo may converse in private.

"Ikari, there is no turning back. You know what you must do by the end of this," Keil says, and then they rejoin the council.

Gendo stands up, straightening his uniform. "I know," he says "Mankind has no time left."

* * *

Shinji stands in the hallway, looking out of the window. A door opens, and two doctors walk down talking.

"Yeah. The First, the Commander's daughter, she's a couple floors down. I can't believe that a parent would do that to their child."

"Well, I hear that the Third, the one who was in the battle last night, is the First's twin brother. Oh, hey, apparently, Commander Ikari was completely against using the children to pilot. Who would know, huh?"

Shinji just tries to shrink away, and not be noticed as he stares out of the window.

* * *

Misato and Ritsuko sit in one of the trucks sent to clean up after the battle.

Misato sighs, and leans back in her seat. "Air conditioning has got to be mankind's greatest treasure. It's the triumph of science over nature."

Ritsuko hangs up the phone, and looks over at Misato. "Shinji's woken up. Apparently they found him trying to find his sister's room."

"How is he?" Misato asks.

"No external or internal injuries.. His memory's a bit muddled too."

Misato leans over. "Could it be from mental contamination?" she asks, worriedly.

Ritsuko smiles. "There appears to be no cause for worry."

"Really?" Misato asks, as she leans back into her seat. "I suppose he did have a really hectic day yesterday."

Ritsuko continues working on her tablet. "It's not surprising. His cranial nerves took a lot of strain."

Misato looks at her. "Don't you mean his heart?"

* * *

Shinji takes the discharge notice from the doctor, and leans down to place it in his bag. When he's done he stands up, nodding in thanks.

He turns and walks over to a waiting area just outside. He looks at his watch. 7:45 am. Forty-five minutes until visiting hours. He sighs, then pulls out his S-DAT, and once again, closes himself off from the world around him.

* * *

A large crane carries an Evangelion sized rifle across to an armament station. Surface-to-surface and Surface-to-air missiles were being loaded into an artillery cannon, while umbilical cords for the Eva Units were being attached into another armament station. Nerv, and the city with it, was prepping for war.

Misato stands at an armament station, looking towards the city during an inspection. Her uniform jacket was tied around her waist, and she was standing beside the same truck she and Ritsuko had been in earlier.

"If the Eva and this city both operate at their full potential, then maybe we can make it through this," Misato says, continuing to look towards the city.

Ritsuko leans out the window of the truck, and looks over at her friend. "Are you going to defeat the angels? You're always such an optimist," the false blonde says.

Misato smiles. "Hey, sometimes you need just a little wishful thinking to just keep on living."

"I see your point. It helps to hear things like that from you."

* * *

Shinji continues to sit in the hospital waiting room, until the alarm on his phone rings out. He reaches into his bag and removes it. Turning off the alarm, he looks at the time. 8:30 am. Visiting hours.

He stands up, then walks over to the elevator, and presses the down button. He looks up, seeing the floor counter tick down from the top floor. Five stops left until it reaches him.

He looks around quickly, then turns back to the pink doors of the elevator as they ring out, signalling that it's at his stop.

The doors slide open, revealing his mother standing there. She glares at Shinji, as he steps back, and turns away.

She just stands there, looking at Shinji with disgust as he 'retreats' from in front of her.

The doors slide shut again.

* * *

Shinji waited for the doors to open again after he pressed the down button. The counter at the top of the elevator was descending downwards from the top floor as well. The pink doors slide open again.

This time, standing inside, was his father.

"Well, at least it's not Mother…" Shinji thinks as he steps in.

The doors slide shut, and Gendo gestures towards the floor buttons. "Which floor?" he asks.

Shinji looks up, and over at the panel. "Oh...umm...you got it already," he meekly answers.

"Going to see Rei?" Gendo asks.

Shinji just nods, looking around the elevator. It's not that he didn't like his father; it's very much the opposite. It's just he finds it awkward to talk to his immediate family, that bit is to be expected when they send you away to live with your aunt and uncle for fourteen years or so.

The elevator doors open once again, freeing him from the potential awkward conversation with his father. Shinji dashes out, and tries to find his sister's room. Hopefully he wouldn't run into his mother.

* * *

Shinji knocks on the door, waiting for the 'OK' for him to come inside. He stands there for a few seconds, waiting for some voice to ring out. Suddenly the door opens, revealing Yui. He steps back, flinching.

Yui just stands there smirking. "Rei! It's just your idiot brother. I'm sending him in!" she calls back into the hospital room.

"Fine. Send him in."

Shinji steps in nervously, his eyes darting around the room. "R-rei? It's me," he says.

She looks over at him, bored. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I just came to see how you were...I mean, you looked like you were in pain last night," he says.

She sighs, and blinks her eyes. "Truthfully? I just have a few broken ribs and a broken arm. The eye bandage was just for show."

Shinji laughs a little. "Thank god. Anyways, I brought you a present from Uncle Arnold and Aunt Ayaka," he says, as he holds out a small box.

As she reaches out, and gets a slight grip on the box, Shinji fumbles it, dropping it on the floor.

"S-sorry…" Shinji mumbles, reaching down to pick it up.

Rei rolls her eyes, and leans back. "And just when I was starting to think that you weren't as much as an useless idiot as mom says you are…"

"Sorry."

* * *

He soon got sent out by a doctor, who came in to check on Rei. Eventually, Shinji made his way back to the entrance for the hospital, and from there, the the main lobby at NERV. He waited around for a while, until Misato picked him up.

"Ready to go?" Misato asks him.

"I guess," Shinji replies.

* * *

"Alone? What do you mean alone?" Misato asks, as she looks at Gendo. "Commander, I mean no disrespect, but he's your son. Wouldn't it be better for him to live with his family?"

"I thought so too at first, but Yui recommended it. Sadly, our family doesn't get along very well, and him living with us wouldn't change much for him," Gendo says, while leaning back into his chair.

Misato turns towards him. "Shinji, are you sure about this? You'd be all alone."

He looks over at her, as if he didn't really have an opinion. "It's fine," he says, "I'd rather be alone. Anywhere is fine for me."

* * *

"It's just like I said!" Misato says over the phone, "I'll take care of Shinji. The Commander himself approved it, and I just got that new apartment. It'll be fine. Hey-hey-what do you mean you're worried I'll 'put the moves' on him or something?"

"_Of course you won't! Do you know how inappropriate that is? What the hell are you thinking? You're always like that! Seriously!"_ Ritsuko yells over the phone.

"Ah, calm down Ritsuko. It was just a joke," Misato says, holding the phone away from her ear.

* * *

Misato's Alpine drives along the roadside, the evening sun shining through the window. Shinji sat in the passenger seat, a grocery bag full of snacks and drinks in his arms.

Misato looks over at him, and says "Hey, we're going to take a quick stop up here."

Shinji looks out the window. "Where are we stopping?"

Misato laughs a little. "Somewhere I think that you'll like."

* * *

Shinji was leaning on the railing looking out, over the city when an air raid alarm went off. Then suddenly, large hatches on the floor open up, revealing buildings that started to rise up.

"Awesome...they're rising up from inside the Geofront…"

"This city is a fortress, designed to protect against the Angels. This is Tokyo-3," Misato says, her arms folded over her chest, "This is our city, and the city you helped to protect."

* * *

They walked along one of the upper floors in the apartment building, heading towards a door at the end of the hall. The wind whistled by, and a stack of boxes were outside the front door of an apartment at the end of the hall.

"Here's your stuff Shinji," Misato says, pointing at the boxes, "And truthfully, this is a new apartment that I just got, so it's new for the both of us."

The front door opens, and Misato steps inside. "Well then, come on in!"'

Shinji looks down. "P-pardon the intrusion," he says, as he shifts the grocery bags around in his arms.

Misato sighs. "Shinji, this is your home now."

He looks up a little, then steps over the door's threshold. "I'm home."

Misato smiles. "Welcome home."

* * *

"Misato Katsuragi...she's a not a bad person," Shinji thinks. Boxes were placed around the room he had claimed as his own. A small bed was in the corner, pushed up against the wall, as he stood there, unpacking. A box of textbooks here, his cello in the closet, Japanese to English and Japanese to German dictionaries stacked on the shelves.

"I wonder why she likes baths so much. Bad memories always find me when I'm taking a bath," he thinks, as he hangs up the new school uniform he just got.

* * *

"So, how was Rei today?" Ritsuko asks Gendo, as he stands in the destroyed testing room. "You went to the hospital this morning, didn't you?"

Gendo slowly takes off his glasses, cleans them, then puts them in his jacket pocket. "Yeah...she...she was fine. Her injuries weren't as bad as last time. What is this, two, three activation tests in a row where she was injured? God, what have I done, giving my own children this responsibility?"

"I don't want to know, but it's for the best, so mankind can survive. Anyways, Rei should be good to pilot in twenty days, and we'll unfreeze Unit-00 then," Ritsuko says.

Gendo places his hands over his eyes, rubs them then sighs. "Don't say that. If these were your children we were sending out to their deaths, you would be just as upset," he says while looking over the light blue and pink armored creature frozen before him.

* * *

Shinji was lying down, his earbuds in his ears. He was staring up, towards the light on the roof.

"Another unfamiliar ceiling…" he says to himself. The track on his S-DAT changes from Vivaldi's Four Seasons to Beethoven's Fifth.

He thinks back to the previous night. "I blacked out during the middle of the battle...how did we live…"

* * *

"_The synchro graph is reversing! The pulses are flowing backwards!"_

"_Break the circuit! Block it!" Ritsuko commands._

"_We can't! It's rejecting the signal! It won't take it!"_

"_What about Shinji?" Misato asks._

"_His monitors aren't responding. Life signs unknown!"_

"_Evangelion Unit-01's gone completely silent!"_

"_Misato!" Ritsuko yells._

"_This is it…" Misato says,_ _"Abort the operation! Rescuing the pilot is our first priority! Force eject the entry plug!"_

"_We can't! It's completely out of control!"_

"_What the hell?!" Misato yells._

_On the surface, the jaw restraints break. Power flows through the circuits, the light illuminating the eye turns on, glowing with the malice of 10 000 enraged mothers._

"_The Eva-it's reactivating!" Ritsuko yells, shocked._

"_Impossible! There's no way it can move!"_

_All eyes were facing towards the monitor, the video feed showing Unit-01 forcing itself up._

"_It can't be…"_ _Misato says._

"_It's gone berserk? But there's nothing to allow that to happen!" Ritsuko yells._

_A roar loud enough to burst eardrums rings out, as Unit-01 launches itself towards the Angel, kicking it in the face. The Angel forces Unit-01 off, and straightens itself._

_Gendo stares at the screen. "H-how...there's no soul…" he whispers._

_Unit-01 sprints full speed at the Angel, then gets stopped by the wall of light emitting from it._

"_An AT field!"_

"_No! As long as the Angel as that AT field up…" Misato says._

"_...It can't touch the angel!" _Ritsuko finishes.

_Unit-01 snarls, and heals it's damaged arm. It shoves it's hands into the very middle of the AT field, trying to create a gap inside of it._

"_Unit-01 has deployed it's AT field! It's neutralising the phase space!"_

"_No...it's eroding it!" Ritsuko corrects._

_The Eva punches a hole in the AT field, and reaches out. The Angel retaliates by firing an energy beam into Unit-01, creating a cross shaped explosion in the area._

"_It broke through the AT field so easily…" Misato says in awe._

_Unit-01 punches the Third Angel across the face, then grabs both of it's wrists, twisting, twisting, until the broke, spraying blue-purple blood on the Eva's hands. The Eva kicks the Angel in the core, knocking it over, so it can charge into it again._

_The Eva straddles the Angel, punching it's several times, before it takes the bones on the 'ribs' protecting the core, and rips those off, then proceeds to use the bone as a makeshift knife, hitting the core over and over again. The pounding on the core sent cracks down the sides of it, like spider webs hanging from a corner._

_In a last ditch effort, the Angel climbs up Unit-01's body, it's core changing color to a bright white. The Eva struggles to escape, pulling, tearing at the Angel._

"_It's going to self destruct!" Misato yells._

_A white light flashes, expanding into a large sphere, then blasting upward in a bright, bright column, forming a glowing cross._

"_Is the Eva…"_

_A figure is seen standing up, in the midst of the explosion. Heat hazes the air around it, distorting the image._

"_That must be…" Ritsuko whispers._

"_...The Eva's true form…" Misato completes, staring at the screen._

_Yui is smirking at the Commander's podium, an evil one, a smirk that would instantly alert anyone within their right mind that everything is going according to her scenario. Her terrifying, terrible, scenario._

* * *

_Shinji looks out the display, holding his head._

"_Circuits reconnected. Systems restored. Graphs back to normal."_

"_Pilot life signs stable."_

"_Send out the recovery team. Hurry!" Ritsuko says_

"_Preserving the pilot's life is our first priority," Misato agrees, furthering the command._

_A crack rings out, as the Eva's helmet falls off, hitting the ground with a large thud. Shinji gasps, then looks around seeing a reflection in the mirror. A large, grey head is sticking out from where the armor fell off, with a scorch mark where the eye should have been. Suddenly, the scorch mark starts bubbling, and the eye opens up again._

_A large, hideous, green eye spins around, before rests at pointing towards the reflective surface that Shinji's looking off of._

_Shinji then screams loudly, the shock of it all finally reaching him._

* * *

Shinji continues to stare at the ceiling, his eyes wide as he recounts the previous night's escapades.

"So the theories are true…" he whispers, barely audible.

He turns onto his side, so that he's looking away towards the door.

"Shinji, I'm coming in," he hears Misato say.

The door slides open.

"I forgot to tell you something," Misato says, "You did a very praiseworthy thing today. You should be proud of yourself. Good night Shinji. Hang in there."

The door slides shut again, hiding Shinji's look of shock in the darkness.

* * *

Meanwhile, around 9000 kilometers away, in Berlin, Germany, Kiel Lorenz walks briskly through his manor, looking for someone. Knocking on a door, he enters one of the common rooms in his house.

Inside were three teenagers, two girls and a boy, sitting around. The boy, Xander, was playing video games with the eldest girl, Ariel. The second girl, Amelia, was reading a biology textbook.

Kiel stamps his cane on the oak wood floors.

"Children," he says, "Where is your brother?"

"Oh, father. He's up in the music room. Again. Really, he should find a better way to spend his time," Xander replies, "Also, why do you always rely on him? Can't you trust us? He's 'Free Will' after all, so he might be lying to you to suit his own needs."

"I rely on him because I know he won't do just that. Now thank you, go back to you game, Xander."

"Yeah, Z! You heard dad, let's get back to playing!" Ariel says, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

Kiel closes to door, and walks up the stairs to the music room. The sound of a piano floated down the hall, the sound of Beethoven's Ode to Joy ringing throughout the house.

Kiel opens the door, and knocks his cane on the wall. The teenaged boy playing the piano stops, and looks over.

Bright crimson eyes stare at Kiel. "Oh, well, good afternoon Father," the boy says, adjusting himself so that he faces Kiel. "How may I help you now?"

"You know what I need Tabris. When are the next of your kin awaking?" Kiel asks him.

"Tsk. Father, you can just refer to me by the name the Lilin have for me, you know that? I am your son after all. But anyways, on to business," the boy, Tabris, the Seventeenth Angel, the Angel of Free Will, Kaworu Nagisa, stands up and places his arms out in the shape of a cross, and spreads his AT field, his eyes glowing.

"Shamshel will awaken in three weeks, no more, and then soon after that will be my sweet, sweet sister Ramiel. I feel a disturbance in the order though; the excavation of my brother Elkanah has will cause him to awaken around when Ramiel awakens. Maybe a week afterwards at most," he says, the light around him distorting.

Kiel smirks. "Perfect. Anything else?"

Kaworu's slight smile shifts into a slight frown. "We both know where Adam is...it's just that I still can't sense where or Lilith's what her status is. I know she's in Japan, near Tokyo-3...but I'm having a hard time locating her soul. It doesn't matter-it won't affect your plan."

Kaworu floats down to the floor, and closes his AT field, smiling once again. "Well father, I guess you could say that poor Shinji Ikari will have a long year ahead of him.

Kiel's smirk widens slightly. "Yes, yes he will."


	3. The Transfer

**Chapter Three:**

The Transfer

* * *

The lighting inside the entry plug flashes around in it's classical rainbow pattern, switching from red, to blue, to green, and a whole assortment of colours before settling on normal white light.

"Good morning, Shinji. How are you?" Ritsuko asks him over the intercom.

"I-I'm getting used to it. It's not so bad," Shinji murmurs, staring blankly ahead.

"That's good. Have you memorised the positions of all the Eva emergence points, emergency power junctions, armament buildings, and recovery zones?"

"Yes," Shinji says as he continues staring blankly.

"Okay. Now, let's continue from where we left off yesterday. We'll initiate Induction Mode."

The Eva raises it's rifle, and points it at the Angel in front of it. A battery countdown timer appears on the HUD, starting at five minutes, and rapidly falling down into the four minute area.

"Position the target in the center, then pull the switch," Ritsuko continues.

Shinji sways the reticle on the HUD, pointing it towards the Angel. He pulls the trigger, firing almost a full clip's worth of ammunition into the air around the Angel.

"Calm down. Position the target in the center, then pull the switch."

"Firing," he says, his voice completely void of emotions.

A spray of bullets get fired from the rifle, hitting the large, red, orb that is Sachiel's core. Sachiel falls over, and explodes into a red and pink circular heat wave.

"Again!" Ritsuko says over the intercom.

Shinji fires again, hitting the Angel's core.

The Eva turns inside the simulator room, firing the fake rifle. Ritsuko and Maya watch the data input, as Shinji racks up simulated kills.

"I'm surprised that he agreed to pilot again," Maya says while jotting down some notes.

"He essentially does what he's told. I guess that's how he gets through life," Ritsuko says, the explosion sound effects playing in the background.

"Position the target into the center, then pull the switch. Position the target into the center, then pull the switch. Position the target into the center, then pull the switch. Position the target into the center, then pull the switch," Shinji mumbles as he continues with the simulation.

* * *

The news plays in the background in Misato's apartment. Shinji closes his bag, then knocks on Misato's door.

"Misato? It's morning already," he says.

"Uuuuh…I just got back from the night shift...I don't have to work until this evening...so please let me sleep," she mumbles, fatigue lining her voice.

"Okay...I'll be going then. There's breakfast in the refrigerator," Shinji says as he turns.

"Oh...Hey Shinji...Is today Thursday? Can you take out the burnable trash please?"

"Huh? Oh, sure."

He closes the door again, and hears a muffled "Have fun at school…"

* * *

He walks into the school building, and finds the locker labelled 'Ikari-S'. He looks over at the class number listed on the side of the section of lockers. 2-A. He takes out his indoor shoes from there, and puts his outdoor ones into the locker.

"Hey!" a female student runs up to him runs up to him, her brown hair done up into pigtails, and her school uniform looking like it was perfectly cleaned the night before.

"O-oh...yes?" he asks.

"Sorry, but I see that you're new here. I'm Hikari Horaki, the Class Representative for 2-A. Are you Shinji Ikari?" the girl, Hikari asks.

"Yes. Umm, sorry do you need this?" Shinji answers. He holds up the transfer package.

"Oh, no. Don't be silly. We already have a copy. Come on, the classroom's this way!" she says happily, as she takes his arm and drags him by his blazer sleeve.

She continues to drag him by his blazer, talking about school events on the way to the Teacher's Lounge. She raps on the door, waits a few seconds, then opens the door, and walks in.

"Sensei!" Hikari says, dragging Shinji over to the teacher.

"Hmm? Yes, what is it, Ms. Horaki?" the teacher asks.

"This is the new transfer student we got the transfer package for. His name is Shinji Ikari!" she says, her arms pointing out to dramatise Shinji.

"H-hello sir," Shinji says as he quickly bows. Hie red tie, not being held in by his blazer, just hung there.

"Hello Mr. Ikari. Say, you don't happen to be related to Rei Ikari, would you?" the teacher asks suspiciously.

Shinji stands up, and straightens his tie. "Yes sir...she's my twin sister…"

A look of dread quickly passes over the teacher. "Please tell me that you won't be participating in any of her schemes."

"Huh? Oh, no. Rei and I don't get along well," Shinji says, sadness and shock apparent in his voice. "Plus, I've just prefered to keep my head down...that's mostly the reason why I graduated from Kyodai."

"You're a graduate of Kyodai? As in, Kyoto University?" Hikari buts in.

"Huh? Oh, yes. I am," Shinji replies.

"In what?" Hikari continues.

"I got my doctorate in Mechanical Engineering," he says. Shinji tugs at his collar, uncomfortable with the situation.

"So then why are you at school here?" Hikari asks.

"M-my parents requested it...so that I could be more 'sociable.'"

The teacher nods. "Sorry to interrupt, but Ms. Horaki, it's almost time for homeroom. I will take Mr. Ikari there, so please make sure that the class is relatively calm for when I get there."

Hikari nods, and runs off to the class.

"Now, Mr. Ikari, shall we be off?" the teacher asks, standing up.

* * *

"Rise. Bow. Be seated!" Hikari calls, as the class performs the actions specified.

"Good morning class," the teacher says. He places a folder at the podium, and turns to face the class. "I have good news for you today. There is a new transfer student today. I'll let him introduce himself."

Shinji steps in, the writes his name on the dry-erase board in kanji and romaji. When he finishes, he turns around. He looks over the class. The boys were mostly wearing the standard blue blazer and black slacks with a red tie that made up the school uniform, while the girls were wearing similar blue blazers, a white blouse, a white and blue checkered skirt, and either a red necktie or bow.

"H-hello," he pauses, and breathes. "I am Shinji Ikari, and I will be attending school here now."

A certain blue haired girl stands up from the middle of the class and yells. "Noooo! Mother, why did you transfer _him_ to the same class as me?" Rei yells as she chucks an eraser at Shinji's head with her free hand, smacking him in the face.

He rubs his forehead as the entire class watches shocked. The teacher then speaks up, as he points towards an empty desk in the back of the class. "Mr. Ikari, if it's alright with you, your desk will be at the back of the class, beside the window."

Shinji nods, and walks towards the desk. He hangs his bag on the hook attached to his desk, then starts to stare out the window.

The history teacher was standing up at the front of the class, lecturing about second impact when Shinji got the first chat message in the 'Official 2-A Skype Chat'. He opened it up, and read to to himself.

**evageek1: **Hey, Ikari, is it true that you're the pilot of the robot? Unit-01? Y/N

He didn't know what to respond with or how for a good thirty seconds.

**Dr. S. Ikari: **…

**Rei-chan: **Of course he's the pilot! Why else would our parents call him here? He's useless otherwise!

**Class_Rep Hikari: **He's the pilot! Really? And a child genius too? Man, you really are special Shinji!

Shinji reads the flood of incoming messages, all of them going along the lines of "Wow! You're the pilot of the purple robot? Tell me more!" Eventually, he just sets his status to offline, and puts the laptop into sleep mode.

* * *

Shinji landed on the ground as he wipes his mouth. The assailant stood over him, wiping his knuckles. The kid was in his class, he knew that, but the fact that he was just wearing the black slacks and white button down showed that he had little to no care for the school uniform. The kid who punched him was a little taller than he was. If Shinji had to guess, he'd say, two inches or so taller than he was, so about Six feet tall.

"Sorry new kid, but I had to hit ya at least once! I wouldn't have felt right until I kicked the crap outta ya," the guy who punched him said.

Another kid walked up to beside Shinji, and whispers something to him. "Sorry, Toji's little sister was injured in the attack the other day. Well, there you have it!" the sandy haired kid says, as he adjusts his glasses and steps back.

"Yeah, well, I don't pilot by choice," Shinji mutters.

The first kid, Toji, turns around, and shoves the glasses kid out of the way. He grabs Shinji by his tie, and pulls him up. Anger showing on Toji's face, and a slight bit of fear showing on Shinji's, Toji punches Shinji into the dirt once again.

Rei cracks open a window from the classroom and yells down to Toji, "Hey! Suzuhara! If you're beating up Shinji, then hold him down and let me join in! I'll be down in a minute!" Rei pulls back from the window and runs out the classroom door, and finally outside to the courtyard. She jumps on top of the still lying on the ground Shinji and punches him in the face.

Toji stares at Rei, as she hits her own brother several times. "Hey...Kensuke? Remind me never to piss off Rei," he says.

Kensuke just nods, and watches in shock as Rei continues to hit Shinji.

Suddenly, Rei's phone rings, and she stops hitting Shinji to answer it. "Hello? Oh, hey mom. Yeah, school's good. Say, why'd Shinji have to be in the same class as me? Oh, right, improved security or whatever. Huh? The Fourth Angel's on it's way? Yeah, sure. We'll be there," she says, as she climbs off of Shinji.

Brushing dirt out of her blue hair, she looks towards Toji and Kensuke. "Well, it's been fun boys, but you know, duty calls," she says as she turns towards the front gate in an almost...flirtatious manner. She stops for a minute, then turns towards her brother, Kensuke, and Toji and says "On second thought, next time you wanna beat the crap the crap out of my worthless brother, call me!"

She dashes off again, towards the nearest entrance to the Geofront, leaving the three boys in the school courtyard. Shinji pulls himself off the ground, brushing dirt off of his clothes. He picks up his bag, and throws it over his shoulder. Toji and Kensuke grab their bags too, eager to get to the shelter.

Shinji runs past the two other boys, just in time to hear Kensuke say "I'll just say one thing about Rei-hot."

"Not cool, she's the new kid's sister," Toji replies.

* * *

"The target has been sighted by our cameras! It's already penetrated into territorial waters," a bridge tech says over the intercom.

"All personnel, assume battlestations, Level One," Fuyutsuki orders.

"Roger, prepare for anti-aircraft interception," Misato says.

"Tokyo-3 transforming to battle formation," Makoto reports.

"Initiate accommodation of the central block."

The air-raid alarm on the surface continues, as buildings capable of it descend into the Geofront.

"Accommodation of central block and the first through seventh districts has been completed."

"Notification of the government and other related ministries, completed."

"Target is still advancing."

"Present rate of anti-aircraft interception: 48%."

"What's the status of non-combatants and civilians?" Misato asks, her arms folded over her chest.

"We've already received reports that the evacuation has been completed," Aoba reports.

* * *

The shelters were rather spacious. That being said, there was only two million or so people in Tokyo-3, and most of them are employees at Nerv, and therefore, would already be in the Geofront. The city's shelters that weren't located inside the Geofront are usually filled with normal civilians-students, young children, stay at home moms, and anyone else who didn't work at Nerv.

"Attention, Elementary to Senior High school students. Please remember to form groups with your individual classes," the safety coordinator announces.

"Not again!" Kensuke says, reading off of his camera/radio.

"Just text messages again?" Toji asks.

The two were with the rest of class 2-A-stuck in a shelter while the Angel invades. Parents and students alike were there. A child screamed in the background, and everyone just sat there and talked.

"It's news censorship. They won't show any of it to us civilians," Kensuke mutters as he shows Toji the messages to stay in the shelter.

"Even though it's such an incredible event," Kensuke continues, turning his head away in disgust.

* * *

The Fourth Angel, Shamshel, flew straight towards Tokyo-3, past the docks beside the ocean. It's goal was in that city, that's where she was...the Second.

Misato looked up towards the display monitor. She reads the display.

**WARNING!**

**AT FIELD DETECTED!**

**Blood Pattern Type: BLUE**

**FOURTH ANGEL: Confirmed!**

**Designation: Shamshel**

"So, the Fourth Angel is almost here. It's a lot sooner than we expected," Misato says, her lips pulling into a smirk.

"Last time they gave us an eighteen year break. This time it's only been almost three weeks.," Makoto replies.

Misato laughs. "They never care about our convenience, do they? They're the type of women we hate the most."

Fuyutsuki glances over at the total ammunition spent, watching as the amount of useless rounds pile up and up, and sighs. "It's a waste of the taxpayers' money," he says.

Aoba slams down the phone, hanging it up, and turns towards Misato. "The committee is demanding that we dispatch an Evangelion again."

Misato looks over at Aoba, and sighs. "Those pesky bastards," she says. "Even if they hadn't asked for it, I'd have dispatched it anyway."

"Entry procedure initiated. LCL oxygenated. Releasing airlock," one of the bridge techs says as Unit-01 is prepped for launch.

"Why am I piloting this thing again, even though my parents aren't here?" Shinji thinks. Memories flash by him. Toji punching him to the ground, Rei straddling him and continuously hitting him. "Even though I got beat up?"

* * *

"Hey, I need to talk to you, privately, you know?" Kensuke asks Toji.

"What for?" Toji responds.

"Just give me a second, okay?"

"Well, okay."

"Class Rep!" Toji calls out to Hikari.

She turns, and looks at Toji, while Kensuke scratched his head nervously. "What?" she asks.

"We both hafta go to the john!" Toji says, in his usual, arrogant manner.

Hikari sighs. "You were supposed to go to the washroom before you came here."

* * *

"Shinji, are you ready to head out?" Misato ask Shinji over the comm system.

"Yes."

"Listen to me. Neutralise the enemy's AT Field, then fire a volley from the pallet gun. Do it just like we practiced. Can you handle that?" Ritsuko asks him.

"Yes."

"Launch!" Misato yells, as the techs enter the command. A split second later, Eva Unit-01 is rocketing to the surface to face the Fourth Angel.

* * *

"Shinji! Are you alright? Shinji!" Misato screamed over the radio, "Damage report!"

Shinji grunted and pulled himself up from his seat. He wasn't having the best of days; he got beat up by some kid at school, then beat up by his sister while that kid just looked on, then he was thrown across the city by an insect-eldritch-abomination-thing's energy looked around, seeing two high school students sitting between the Eva's fingers. One of them being the kid who beat him up earlier, and his friend.

A shadow crosses over the Eva, and Shinji looks up, seeing the Fourth Angel. It slashes, it's tentacles glowing a deadly pink, slashing at him.

He moves the Eva's arms up, grabbing onto the the whips, holding them in place as the energy burns away at him.

"Shinji! Let them into the cockpit!" Misato orders him.

He complies, quickly entering the controls to have the entry plug eject slightly so the other boys can get it.

"Once they're in, make a temporary retreat and we'll regroup," Misato tells Shinji.

The screens shut down as the plug ejects, temporarily cutting off synchronisation.

"The two of you, get in! Hurry!" Misato barks at Toji and Kensuke.

They climb into the entry plug, and fall into the LCL, yelling out in shock.

"What the? Water?"

"My camera! My camera!"

The screens activate once again, and shakes up, distorted, due to the angel's attack.

"Abnormal conditions occurring in the nervous system!"

Shinji pulls up on the tentacles, bringing the Angel closer to him. Holding it still, he commands the Eva to kick it as hard as he can, sending it crashing down the hill. He makes the Eva stand up, and look downwards.

"Now! Retreat!" Misato yells over the radio, but Shinji hesitates.

He looks down at the Angel as it tries to recompose itself, contemplating whether or not retreating would be the best option. If he didn't retreat, he could die, but mind you, he could die either way. In theory it could cause less damage to the Eva, as long as he could kill it before it attacked too much.

He keeps his head down, as Misato gives orders on where to retreat to, and as the Toji yelled in his ear to follow the retreat order. And so, with that, he came to a conclusion.

"I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away," he starts mumbling, and so he finishes. "I mustn't run away!"

The shoulder pilon on Unit-01 opened up, revealing a progressive knife. He draws it, and activates it, causing the blade to start vibrating at almost the speed of sound.

"Shinji! Obey my orders! You have to retreat!" Misato yells.

The timer on Unit-01's battery reaches zero, and Shinji charges, screaming. The Eva slides down the hill, straight towards the Angel. He stops 20 meters away from the Angel, as it spears him with it's energy whips, both piercing through the armour to the other side.

Shinji, screams again, and lunges with the progressive knight, stabbing the Angel in the core. The Angel extends two crab like claws in retaliation, clamping one down on one of Unit-01's arms, the other down on it's leg. Shinji's screams, if anything, only grow louder in response to the sudden addition of pain being forced on him.

He was helpless to resist the Angel, if he stopped trying to force the knife into it, he wouldn't be able to cut through. Sparks and what would be equal to saw dust flew everywhere from the Angel's large, glowing core, and LCL started to flow from the Eva's wounds.

The core began to crack as the timer was at ten seconds remaining, and after a minute of screaming and pain, it was finally over for Shinji, as just milliseconds before the Eva shut down, the core shattered, spraying LCL over Unit-01.

* * *

It was raining, no, pouring, outside of the classroom. Rei just sat there, watching the rain come down, listening to Toji and Kensuke talk.

"It's been three days," Toji says, his head on his desk, looking bored.

Kensuke looks up from his laptop, and fixes his glasses. "Since we were chewed out?"

Toji lifts his head up, and looks at his friend. "No, since he came to school."

"Who's 'he?'"

"The new kid, Rei's brother. I wonder what he's been doin' since then."

"Are you worried about him?" Kensuke asks, once again looking up from his laptop.

"No, not exactly worried," Toji replies.

From the row next to Kensuke, Rei scoffs. "Well, you might want to be."

"What? Why? What happened to him?" Toji asks the injured girl.

"Oh? Shinji? He was locked up."

"Locked up? As in…" Toji questions.

"Thrown in the brig, arrested. For 'insubordination' or something. Mom said that she didn't want pilots who disobeyed orders working for her, so she threw him in the brig."

This made Toji, even Kensuke look at Rei in shock. Shinji. The weak kid who Rei and Toji had beaten up a few days back, the one that killed two of these 'Angels,' locked up in the brig? He'd been living in Tokyo-3 for just under three weeks, and already, Shinji Ikari's luck has taken an even greater, turn for the worse.


End file.
